Method of making hollow cord.



Patented Oct. 30. 1917.

J. U. TEW.

m -UNM APPLICATION min age. 11. 1916.

METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW CDRD.

,osv.

IJVl/E'NTORQ J, D. TEW. METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW CORD. APPLICATION FILED020.11.1916.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

B M I F lz vzmog Fr TM? 19% Muir/aw AZ'TJ5,

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Jules n.- raw, or minor, omqassmnon TO rm. 3. r. ooonnion common .01 newYORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. v

METHOD OF MAKING HOLLOW CORD. I

Specification of Letter Patent.

Patented 0011.30, 1917.

To all whom may concern: Be it known that I', JAMES I). Tnw, a citi-"zen of the United States, residing at Akron,

in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented a. certain newand useful Improvement in Methods of Makm Hollow Cord, of which thefollowing is a l," clear, and exact description, reference bemghad tothe accompanying drawings.

My Patent No. 1,444,079, shows v and claims a hollow cord composed ofadhering textile strands twisted together. Such. a cord may be 'laid ina round shape and then readily flattened to spread laterally to agreater or less extent and thus closely fill the space available for it.These more or less flattened cords may accordingly readily compose acontinuousply or layer adapted for use as an effective strengtheningmemher in atire casing, rubber hose, or other place.

The present. invention 1s concerned with a process of making. suchhollow cord. I

" have found that the cord may be manufactured cheaply and rapidly bytreating individual textile strands wlth rubber cement, so as toimpregnate and. coat 'them, and thereafter, while the rubber cement isin a sticky condition on the outside of the strands, to twist anumber ofthem together about a needle or forming point, and at the same time pullthe nascent cord along throu h a tubular die which may press the strandstogether without filling the center, while a tension is maintained onthe strands sufiicient to keep them taut, but not great enough to causethe cord being formed to collapse at the center.

In the preferred method of carrying out my process I heat the cords anddry them immediately after the rubber treatment',sufficiently to do awaywith free liquid or loose cement on the surface, but without baki thecement into a hard coating. Then take the strands from the drier, and,while maintaining them separate, lead them to a twisting apparatus. Imay provide the necemary tension on the strands by friction paratus. Inthe twisting apparatus I guide the strands individually, bringing themtoat theyguide rollers, over which they pass" in going from the drier tothe twisting apgather about the forming needle, which needle projects,into the bore of the cord being formed a sufficient distance to preventthe cord collapsin until the strands have each adhered to t e adjacentstrands, the

series of strands thus acting after the manner'of an arch about theopening, and their adherence preventing any of them passing inwardly tooccupy the bore. While the cord is in this forming or nascent conditionit is drawn through the tubular die which has a boreof such size that itwill press each strand into close contact with its neighbors (i. e.-theadjacent cords on its opposite sides) whileleavin the centerunoccupied. A sufficient num er of strands must be employed so that theymay come into close contact. with each other and still leave a bore inthe center. strands may readily accomplish this result. I have also usedeight strands'satisfactorily. \Vhere six strands. are employed thediameter of the tubular die is substantially three times that of thediameter-0f each strand, thus leaving a bore of a diameter substantiallyequal to that of a strand. If a greater number of strands are employed,the diameter of the die will be correspondingly increased. 7

. use the term strand herein as meaning one of the constituent elementswhich are twisted together to form the hollow cord. Such strand mayitself be a twisted cord. I produce very satisfactory results, forexample, by employing as the strand solid cord composed of four threadstwisted together, each thread being made of three, yarns twistedtogether. The number of individual elements and twistings used in makingthe- I have found that six. 7

strand-cord maybe varied as desired. It

is necessary, however, in making the hollow cord to have a large enoughnumber of strands so that the series of strandsmay make a completeclosed band or arch. about the central opening, each strand being heldfrom passing into the bore by the two adjacent strands. strand thereforeacts after the manner of a voussoir of an arch.

Without intending to limit myself to specific proportions may say that Ihave accomplished very satisfactory results by Every section of everysupplying an amount. of rubber cement which by Weight is approximatelyhalf the .wei'ght of the strands constituting the cord. I find that atension on each strand equiva- ,plishes the lentto a wei ht of about oneesired result of eeping them taut without causing collapse at the centerof the cord.

My invention is hereinafter more fully In the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation, somewhat diagrammatic, of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is anenlarged sectional slde elevation of a portion of. the apparatus,

illustrating a device which ma be employed for treating the strands witrubber and heating and drying; Fig. 3 is a plan of some of the rollerguides over which the strands pass from the drying to the twistingdevice, which may be employed in my process; Fig. 4 is a side elevationof asuitable twisting device; Fig. 5is an enlarged vertical. section ofa portion of the-twisting device, showin particularly the die and needleor insi e former; Fig. 6, is a horizontal cross section through'thetwisting device above the'die and former; Fig. 7 is a side elevation ofthe forming point, and tubular die in substantially the position theymutually occupy in use; Fig. 8 is a cross section on an en- .largedscale of an illustratlve-hollow cord produced by this Thedrawings sstrands, which number I find very satisfactory for many urposes. In Fig.1, 10 designates a suitahle creel in which are -process.

. shown six spools 11, from which lead six strands A. '-These strandsare shown as passing downwardly across the under side of a guide roller15 into and through a long horizontal drying and heating chamber 20. Inthe wall of its entrance end this chamber has a receptacle 23, intowhich liquid rubber cement is pumped through a pipe 24, communicatingtherewith. This receptacle is in open communication with two sets ofhollow nipples 25 and 26-. Each set of nip les is arranged in ahorizontal row and the two corresponding ni ples in the two, sets areinalinement. T ere are as many nipples in each set as there are strandsA. The nipples 25 are shown as projecting outwardly beyond the end ofthe wall of the casing and the nipples 26 grojecting inwardly, as shownin Fig. 2. y this means the strands as they are drawn through thesenipples are impregnated and coated with the rubber cement underpressure.

As the strands emerge from the nipples pound accom-.

nquire. ow a cord made of six 26 they are heated and dried. A convenientdrier consists of a steam pipe 22 in the casing. The strands arestretched approximately horizontally in the upper portion of thechamber, out of contact with the steam this pi e (which mayconvenientlyhave af screw-t readed needle (meeting with a diaphragm 29 having asmall hole through it). controls the exit of air so that the air issubstantially saturated with rubber solvent (benzol, for example) whenit is withdrawn.

The surplus solvent is carried out by the air and may be takento asuitable recovery apparatusr The length of the drying chamber, the

sipeed of progress of the strands, and the egree of heat supplied bythesteam pipe, are so regulated that the strands are substantially dry whenthey emerge from the apparatus, but the rubber on the surface thereof isof a very sticky nature. I have found it satisfactory to provide 'adrying chamber about twenty feet long, to progress the cordstherethrough at a speed of about sixteen feet per minute, and to supplyheat to the chamber of approximately 130 Fahrenheit, though theseroportions may be varied in practice, as t e conditions re-' As thecords emerge from the drying chamber they pass across a guide roller 30,and then, whlle still. separate from each other, pass across other guiderollers, as 31 and 32 in the drawings, to the twisting device. It isimportant thatv the tension of the strands be comparatively light,otherwise the twisting mechanism would exert such a pull on the strandsas to collapse the cord. On the other hand, the strands must be kepttaut to .make them properly twist.'

Some drag is provided to the strands byrthe nipples where they passthrough the impregnating solution, and 'a further drag by the frictionat the guide rollers, across which the sticky strands run. A furtherdrag may readily beprovided by establishing an increased frictionagainst the rotation of any of the guide rollers. I have illustrated forthis purpose a leaf spring 35, which may be pressed by a thumb nutagainst the rollers 31 and 32. This, however, is purely illustrative ofany regulated friction device. i

The strands A pass downwardly from the roller 32 through suitable guides40, held equidistantly about a center, and below these guides theyconverge about a central core I dicates a lock nut for this die.

amps? #1, which has longitudinal grooves 42 in its eriphery, and t encecome into contact wit the inside forming point or needle 43,

carried by the core 41. Directly opposite.

this forming point is a tubular die 50, the bore of which corresponds tothe external diameter of the comp eted core. The die is rounded at itsentrance end and the forming point terminates adjacent to that end,preferabl slightly within it. Below the die is a suitable twisting andwinding mechanism to twist the cord and spool it.

The die and forming point are carefully adjusted with reference to eachother, so that .the strands are supported out of central contact whilethey are twisted into a cord at the entrance to the die. When thustwisted the adhesion of each strand to its neighbors prevents any strandpassing inwardly to the center. A indicates the formed cord. Fig. 8 isan-enlarged diagrammatic view of a cross section of this cord, and showshow the contiguous strands form in effect an arch about the hollowcenter a. y

As shown in the drawings, the central core 41, which carries the formingneedle,

is supported by a threaded shank 45, adjustably clamped toan arm 46carried by the upright support 47. The guides for the individual strandsare shown as bushings mounted in a disk .44 clamped to the top of thecentral core 41. The die 50 is shown as.

threaded in a stationary arm 52. This allows vertical adjustmentof thedie. 53 in- The die is also shown as carrying a collar 55, locked by anut 56 The upper end of this collar has a recess which closely embracesthe walls of the central bore 41' and thus insures axial alinement ofthe forming point and tubular die.

The construction last above described may be varied in practice, so longas the proper adjustment is provided between the inside is former andthe tubular die, and the strands are kept out of contact with each otheruntil they are twisted about the point adjacent to the mouth of the die.By thus keeping them out of contact, so that they do not ad'- here toeach other until they are brought together, twisting them a'boutthepoint just as they ass into the-tubular die which has an interior I pthe cord without collapsing it, and by draw ing the cord along throughthis die while a light tension is kept on the strands, and performingthis operation while the strands are still sticky from the rubber-thesecorrelated operations cause the production of a. tubular cord A,composed of adhering textile strands and having suflicient stiffness toremain round while bein wound on a spool, or thereafter laid in p ace,while the cord or ot remove the spool. axially through the gear 65, andis adapted bore confining the exterior of maythereafter be readilyflattened as desired for the manufacture of tire casings, her articles.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed to draw and spool the finishedcord. he drawings show a common form of winding mechanism for this puoee, which I will now describe with particular reference to elow thetubular guide 50, and alined with it, is a stationary tubular member 60,carried b a stationary frame 61. On the surface 0- this tubular memberare formed the teeth of a worm. The tubular member extends below theworm, forming a hearing which guides the upper end of a rotatable frame62, mounted at its lower end in the frame 61. As shown the lower end ofthe rotatableframe is keyed to a bevel gear 65,

'ournaled in the frame 61, and driven by a evel gear 66 in the end ofasuitable drive shaft 68.

The rotatable frame 62 carries a 'pulley 70 having a grooved surface,and the cord comes through the tubular member 60, carrying the worm, andonto this grooved pulley, passes once around the same and over a groovedpulley 71, and then back over the pul ey 70, then again over the pulley71, over pulleys 73 and 74 and onto a spool 75.

The stationary 'worm 60 is engaged by a worm wheel 76 carried by theframe, which transmits motion to a gear 77 meshing with gear teeth rigidwith the pulley 70, thereby rotating this pulley 70 to draw the corddownwardly as the frame 62 is rotated. The passing of the cord twicearound the pulley 70 causes the same to frictionally grip this pulley,which provides for drawing this cord downwardly.

The spool 7 5. on which the cord is to be wound, has its upper endengaging a pivot center 79 and the lower end is supported on a fork 80,on'the up or end of a shaft 81. The pivot center is locked by a setscrew which maybe loosened, allowlng the center tobe moved upwardly whenit is desired to The shaft 81 passes to rotate independently of the gearand the frame. At the lower end of the shaft is car;

- ried a friction clutch member 83, rigid on the shaft, through whichmotion may be transmitted from a bevel gear 85 loosely carried by theshaft 81. The bevel gear 85 is driven by,a bevel gear 86 on the end ofthe shaft 68. A yoke-shaped frame 88 is slidably mounted on theshaft 81and carries the pulley 74. This frame where it surrounds the shaft 81,carries an inwardly projecting element (not shown) adapted to en ageright-and-left-hand threads on the she 81 and give the frame alongitudinalmotion in either direction, according to the well knownpractice. This relative motion of the frame guides the cord evenly tothe bobbin 75. 4

As the driving shaft 68 rotates the bevel gear wheels 66 and 86 transmittheir motion to the respective gear wheels 65 and 85, but the gearratios aresuchthat the wheel 65 is turned much faster than the wheel 85.The friction clutch 83 between the bevel 85 and the shaft 81 allowsslippage as the spool fills and requires slower rotation. The rotationof the frame 62 by the gear 65, twists the cord up. to the needle 43,where the strands are formed into the hollow or tubular cord, and at thesame time causes the rotation of the grooved pulley 70 in the directionto draw the formed cord downwardly. The amount of the twist isdetermined by the peripheral speed of the pulley 70 relatlvely to therate of rotation of the frame 62.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. The method of making hollow cord consisting of treating textilestrands with adhesive material and then twisting them into a cord with ahollow center, while maintaining tension on the strands strong enough tokee them taut but light enough to prevent t 'e internal collapse of theresultant cord. 1

2. The 'method of making hollow cord consisting of treating textilestrands with adhesive, twistin together a number of the strands sotreate about a male die and into a coacting female die, the size andposition of which are selected to bring each strand I into contact withits neighbors while maintaining a hollow center. I

3. The method of making hollow cord consisting) of twisting stickystrands together a out a point while maintaining tension on the strandssuflicient to keep them taut but not sufiicient tocollapse'the'resultant cord. v

4. The process of making hollow cord consisting of twistingadhesivestrands together about a point and immediately drawing them intoa female die the bore of which is substantially equal to the externaldiameter of the resultant cord and during such operation maintainingtension on the strandssuflicient to keep them taut but not 1 suflicientto collapse the cord being formed.

5. The method of makin hollow cord consisting of treating stran s withcement and twisting a large enough number of them about a former so thatthey may successively contact with each other while leaving a hollowcenter, and during such operation maintaining a tension on the strandsgreat enough to keep them taut but not'enough to collapse the cord.

6. The method of making hollow cord consisting of treating strands withcement and twisting them about a point while main taining a lighttension on them and immediately drawing the formed cord through a femaledie-havlng a bore of such size that each strand contacts with it whileeach strand is adhering on its opposite sides to its neighborin strandsand the center of the cord is ho low. I

7. The method of making hollow cord consisting of treating textilestrands with rubber cement and thereafter, while maintaining a lighttension 'on the strands, twisting them to ether about a point located atthe mouth 0 a tubular die which is of such size as to bring the strandseach into con- 9. The method of making hollow cord consisting of coatingindividual strands with cement, drying such cement while still leavingit sticky on the exterior of the strands, and while the strands are inthis condition twistin hollow center, w ile maintaining tension on thestrands sufiicient 'to keep them taut witlliout causing the collapse ofthe resultant cor I 10. The method of making hollow cord them togetherabout a consisting of coating individual strandswith rubber cement, dring such cement while still leaving it sticky on the exterior of thestrands, and while the strands are in this condition twisting themtogether about a forming point,-which is located at the'ent'rance to atubular die, the diameter of which is of such size as to hold thestrands each in contact with its neighbors while leaving a hollow spaceat the center of the cord bein formed.

11. The metho of making hollow cord I consisting of coating individualstrands with 1 rubber cement, *drgxiyng such cement while stillleavingit stic on the exterior of the strands, and while the strands are inthis condition twisting together a large enough number of themto form acontinuous arch about -a hollowcenter and immediately drawing thenascent cord through a tubular die the diameter of which is of such sizeas to press the strands into close contact with their respectiveneighbors while leaving a hollow space at the center of the cord beingformed, and maintaining on the strands until the cord is completed atension suflicient to keep them taut but not suflicient to collapse theresultant cord.

12. The method of making hollow oord consisting of impregnating andcoating in- I dividual strands with rubber cement under pressure, thenheating and drying said 5 strands without baking the cement on theexterior thereof, then twistin said strands together about'a point andmto a female die, the point being located adjacent to the month of thedie, the bore of the die havin a diameter at least three times that ofeac strand, drawing said cord continuously through such die and windingit onto a spool.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

JAMES D. TEW.

Correction In Letters Patent-No. 1 245,067.

' It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent Ne. 1,245,067, grantedOctober 30,

1917, upon the application of James D. Tew, of Akron, Ohio, for animprovement in Methods of Hollow Cord, an error appears in the printedepecifiwtion requiring correction follows: Page 1, line 10, for thepatent number 1,444,019" read 1,144,079; end that the said LettersPetent should be reed with this correction therein that the same mayconform to the record of the one in the Potentoflioe. 4

Signed and sealed this 29th dsy of January, A. D., 1918.

R. F. WHITEHEAD,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

[nun]

